Syon Capital LLC Takes Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Syon Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 4,077 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $396,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Legacy Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $45,000. Fortis Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Duke Energy in the third quarter worth $50,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 49.1% during the third quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 571 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $71,000. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Duke Energy Stock Down 1.3 %

Duke Energy stock opened at $97.71 on Friday. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $83.06 and a fifty-two week high of $100.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.52, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.46. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $94.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $93.74.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $7.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.24 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 9.78% and a return on equity of 8.93%. Duke Energy’s quarterly revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.11 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.99 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total transaction of $277,710.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,213 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,315,697.41. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on DUK. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Duke Energy from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $101.00 to $113.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Barclays boosted their target price on Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price target on Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $100.62.

Duke Energy Company Profile

Duke Energy Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an energy company in the United States. It operates through two segments: Electric Utilities and Infrastructure (EU&I), and Gas Utilities and Infrastructure (GU&I). The EU&I segment generates, transmits, distributes, and sells electricity in the Carolinas, Florida, and the Midwest.